Page 106 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

“I am glad that you have found happiness, Hakon, but your responsibilities did not go away with that happiness. The entire town of Amsbrook was a message from the gods tous, brother.”

Hakon stopped pacing at that and turned to face Herrick.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that the townspeople were laid out in a repeating rune,ansuz,” Herrick said wearily.

The color drained from Hakon’s face. Even the shine in his caramel hair was dulled.

“They were a sacrifice by the gods to warn us that we have strayed from their path.”

Unable to stand any longer, Hakon moved to sit on the same boulder Herrick had been on. Herrick joined his brother, and they sat in silence for a time.

“I failed them,” Hakon whispered. “I’m supposed to be their future King, and I keep failing them.”

Herrick put a hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed.

“There was nothing you could have done, Hakon. It wasn’t your fault,” Herrick said, repeating the same words Maude had said to him.

“Why did Maude burn them down?” Hakon asked, that earlier anger slipping through. “We could have rebuilt the town.”

“No,” Herrick said gently. “The town was lost, brother. The lands were dead, and the gods' presence in the town would have been too much for anyone to live under.”

Hakon hung his head, deflating.

“Maude gave them a path to the afterlife,” Herrick continued. “She gave them peace in death.”

“She gave them what we could not,” Hakon finished for Herrick.

The brothers sat in silence for a few moments before Hakon pointed to the dusty ground and flicked his fingers up once. From between the cracks of the packed dirt, a bright red carnation bloomed. It sat there for a moment before it dried up and crumbled away, the land surrounding it unable to support new growth.

“I’m not really angry with Maude; how could I be?” Hakon mumbled. “I ran from my title, my responsibilities. She makes it seem so easy just to walk away fromit all.”

“I don't think it has been easy for her at all,” Herrick said slowly. “I think it was hard for her to walk away from her kingdom. There is more to that story that we don't know yet.”

“I don't know what to do, Herrick,” his brother said quietly. “How do I choose between my kingdom and my heart?”

The pain ebbed through Herrick’s chest at his brother's words, the sorrow laced in them.

“Hopefully, you won’t have to.”

“Not in this world, Herrick. In this world, I must choose,” Hakon said as he slid off the boulder and walked back to their group.

Herrick followed quickly and matched Hakon’s pace back to their friends. As they got closer, Herrick saw that Maude was kneeling in front of Gunnar now, snapping her fingers in front of his eyes. The brothers looked at each other before increasing their pace until they were near running.

“Gunnar!” Maude said loudly as she snapped her fingers close to Gunnar’s eyes.

Gunnar did not flinch once, eyes glazed over and staring forward. As Herrick and Hakon got closer, Maude reached out to Gunnar’s shoulders and shook him hard. Finally, after a few long seconds, Gunnar jerked awake from whatever trance he had been in.

“What the He are you doing?” Gunnar asked, bewildered at the sight of his friends all staring at him.

He looked at Maude kneeling in front of him and then sharply looked at Herrick.

“What areyoudoing?” Maude almost screamed. “You scared the Hel out of me!”

“What are you talking about? You were just throwing in a few more stitches to stop the bleeding,” Gunnar looked at her, confusion in his eyes.

“Gunnar, that was some time ago. We asked you if you were having any pain as we covered your wound again, and you didn’t respond,” Eydis said quietly, uncertainty leaking into her voice as Hakon wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “We’ve been trying to wake you up.”

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